Little meaningful academic learning happens when students’ prerequisite needs go unfulfilled. I often cite the work of psychologist Abraham Maslow in these matters. His famous Hierarchy of Needs explains that cognitive and aesthetic needs (those addressed by academic instruction) can only become ripe for fulfillment when more fundamental needs are met. Assuming that schools see [...]
The best teachers lead classrooms not merely by teaching but by facilitating. They not only create learning experiences; they also create circumstances for learning experiences to come about in various forms. Even better, they create environments that sustain learning on their own. Or perhaps the phenomenon is not as spontaneous and magical as it sounds. [...]
Students represent the most overlooked resource not only in a typical school, but in most communities at large.
By the time I was nine years old, I knew that Hank Aaron had hit 755 career home runs, that Ty Cobb had a lifetime batting average of .367, that Roger Maris had belted 61 home runs in 1961–a single-season record. I knew which baseball teams were in which major league, and I knew for [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on February 22. 2012: “Kids today!” This hackneyed exclamation has been around for generations, and people of every generation think they invented it. “Our parents didn’t let us get away with things like that!” This is probably true. “My father used to take his belt to me!” I think the speaker [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on October 2, 2011: I have been a teacher now for over twenty years, and I have split my career between the middle- and high-school levels. Five years ago, I decided to pursue a second master’s degree, this one in school administration, and I attended the Rutgers University Graduate School [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on June 12, 2011:When it comes to educating our children, all stakeholders need to remind themselves once in a while of things they must do in order to ensure success. In this post, I share five things that I have learned from my colleagues over the course of my career [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on May 31, 2011: I do not allow myself as a teacher to play favorites. I may have a favorite novel to teach or a favorite unit; I even have favorite colleagues. But when it comes to the students, I make it a point to favor no one—not an individual, [...]
Originally published on Open Salon on April 9, 2011: Recently, I have given a great deal of thought to a particular tendency in our culture that has powerful implications, not only for my work as a teacher, but also for society as a whole. A personal anecdote serves as an introduction. For about twenty years [...]
Originally posted on Open Salon on February 21, 2011: More today about the behavior spectrum of today’s students. I explained in an earlier post that our entire society—adults and children alike—is strongly influenced by our mass media. It helps to isolate and understand some important principles on which our media function. It is obvious that [...]
Real Teaching 